The appearance of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) during the rainy season in the Alor Waters, Indonesia 1Jahved F. Maro, 2Agus Hartoko, 2Sutrisno Anggoro, 2Max R. Muskananfola, 3Lumban N. L. Toruan, 4Micael Dakahamapu, 5Erick Nugraha 1 Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Coastal Resources Management Doctoral Program, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia; 2 Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Coastal Resources Management, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia; 3 Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Nusa Cendana University, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia; 4 Environmental Practitioners, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia; 5 Faculty of Fishing Technology, Jakarta Technical University of Fisheries, South Jakarta, Indonesia. Corresponding author: E. Nugraha,
[email protected] Abstract. The appearance of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Alor Waters, Indonesia, located in the Eastern Indian Ocean, is one of the new findings in the marine protected area of Pantar Strait and the surrounding sea of Alor regency. Since 2015, when the waters of Alor regency have been designated as a marine protected area, M. novaeangliae specimens have never been found in these waters. The research aimed to track their trajectory, based on bio-oceanography predictions, in the marine protected area of Pantar Strait and its surrounding sea. This research used a field data survey, and database sources like the Copernicus Marine Service Data, Argo Floats and GEBCO data. The field survey was conducted from March to December 2020. The results of the research showed that around 15 M. novaeangliae specimens crossed the Alor waters on December 1st 2020 in the afternoon, from 05.00 to 05.45 pm. They were jumping above the water surface for about 3 seconds and diving into the water, then they were reappearing at the water surface for about 5 minutes and jumping again for about 5 seconds.